Stars and Music News

The fearless performance of Melissa Leo as mom-in-distress Ray is what the emotional success of Frozen River hinges on. To her credit, Leo inhabits Ray completely. In the film, the devil is in the details. There’s the dirt under Ray’s chipped fingernails and the deep-worn lines on her weather-worn face. There are also the split ends in her unglossy mane of dry, red hair. Ray is a woman with no luxuries, placed in the frozen, gray and depressed tundra of northern New York, nestled near the Canadian border. She is hardened by the knocks that life has habitually socked her with. She has two kids whom she feeds with popcorn and Tang. She doesn’t have enough cash in her pocket to afford more than $7.74 in gas. Indeed, Ray is the epitome of every white trash cliché there is. And that includes having a selfless heart when it comes to her family.

Details are definitely key, since Frozen River is a film about one woman and her undesirable station in life. The camera always cuts close on